Jannik Sinner: The Alcaraz Rivalry, His Dating Rumors, and What's Really Going On

So, Jannik Sinner is in the China Open quarter-finals. Let’s all take a moment to care.

I’m watching the highlights, reading the wire reports about him beating Marin Cilic and some guy named Terence Atmane, and all I can see is the ghost of New York. Every forehand, every serve, it’s all just a frantic, desperate attempt to scrub the image of `Carlos Alcaraz` hoisting that `US Open` trophy out of our collective memory. His memory, mostly.

They trot him out for these reception galas, stick him next to Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff for the cameras. Everyone smiles. Everyone looks thrilled to be in Beijing, playing for a trophy that feels more like an obligation than a prize. It's the part of the season where the real drama is over and everyone's just running out the clock, trying not to get hurt before the real money events in Shanghai and Turin.

And Sinner is playing the part perfectly. He says all the right things. On Alcaraz taking his No. 1 spot? "He played more tournaments, and he played all tournaments very, very well... he deserves to be there."

Translation: "He beat me when it mattered most, and now I have to answer questions about it for the next six months."

It's the `Jannik Sinner vs Alcaraz` rivalry that the tennis world is desperate to sell us, and I get it. It’s the new Federer-Nadal, except one guy looks like a matador and the other looks like he’s perpetually surprised to be there. They “split the Grand Slams,” which sounds neat and tidy until you remember which one was the grand finale. Sinner took Wimbledon, great. But Alcaraz took the `US Open`, the one that closes the book on the season’s story. That’s the one that sticks.

So what does our guy do? He goes back to the lab. He decides the answer to losing a brutal four-set final is... serve-and-volley.

Yes. In the year 2024, with rackets that can launch a ball into low-earth orbit, his big tactical revolution is to play like a guy from 1993. I’m sure it looks great on a whiteboard.

"I put in some serve and volleys," he told the press. "At times it worked very well, sometimes not. I also sometimes have to find the right shot also to do it."

Let me translate that for you, too. "I tried a thing. I have no earthly idea if it’s actually a good thing, but my coach said it was, and it’s better than admitting that the other guy was just better on the day." This is a bad plan. No, 'bad' doesn't cover it—this is a five-alarm dumpster fire of a strategy born from desperation. You don’t fundamentally change your game because of one loss, unless that loss completely broke you.

And maybe it did. Maybe that’s the real story here. The `Sinner tennis` we see now isn't an evolution. It’s a reaction. A panic move. Then again, what do I know? I'm just a guy watching on a laptop while these guys make millions. Maybe I'm the crazy one here.

He says he’s “very, very happy with the season.” That it was “remarkable.” And sure, on paper, it was. He beat `Novak Djokovic` at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. The head-to-head against `Djokovic` is 6-4 in his favor. That's legit. But you can’t tell me he isn’t looking at the draw for the Shanghai Masters, where he’s the defending champ, and seeing he’s in the same half as `Novak Djokovic` again and not feeling that cold dread. Because now the pressure is on to prove it wasn't a fluke.

This whole tour is a meat grinder anyway. It feels soulless. They fly these kids from one continent to another, stick them in identical five-star hotels, have them play in stadiums named after insurance companies, and we're supposed to find some grand human drama in it all. It’s a miracle any of them have a personality left by the time they’re 25.

And offcourse, there’s the other thing we’re not supposed to talk about too much. The three-month ban last year. The positive test for an anabolic steroid. It’s in the past, he served his time, the tour moved on. But it hangs there, doesn't it? It complicates the narrative. This isn’t some clean, heroic journey. It’s messy. He’s the defending champ at the ATP Finals, he won Shanghai last year, and yet he still feels like an underdog in his own story. He’s constantly fighting something—Alcaraz, Djokovic, his own tactical doubts, his own history. And honestly...

He’s scheduled to play Fábián Marozsán next, a guy he’s beaten before. He’ll probably win. He might even make the final. Maybe he’ll lose to Alcaraz again, just for old time’s sake. The machine keeps grinding on, and he’s just trying to find the right gear.

Good Luck With That, Kid.

Let's be real. All this tinkering, all this talk of new tactics and being "happy" with the season—it’s just noise. He’s stuck. He’s not as freakishly talented as Alcaraz and he’s not as mentally indestructible as Djokovic. He’s the very, very good player caught between two all-time greats. Adding the serve-and-volley ain't going to change that fundamental equation. He’s just rearranging the deck chairs on a very expensive, very fast-moving ship.

Reference article source：

• PHOTOS: Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and more bring glamour to Beijing players party
• Did Jannik Sinner have a sly dig at Carlos Alcaraz over world No 1 ranking?
• Novak Djokovic in Jannik Sinner's half at Rolex Shanghai Masters